Cook&Bottlewasher

I am pretty sure it isn't a franchise. There is also another Hello Cupcake in like Oklahoma or something.

It's in Takoma. Is that like Oklahoma or is there one in Oklahoma AND Takoma!

Popular name

You can say that again,Jennifer!

www.hello-cupcake.com is this a franchise place or something? It must be.

Do you add any Fruit Fresh (Vitamin C) to your peaches before you canned the halves? Also, did you cook the peaches a bit before canning or did you can them raw?

You have to cook the peaces or they will turn brown even with ascorbic acid. A few things don't need to be cooked such as cherries before pickling but pears,apples,peaches do. Don't wing this! Use a recipe!

Well, I found one that doesn't work: tart blackberries, whipped cream and basil. The tart of the berries and the basil was pretty awful. There were a few berries that were sweet and they went brilliantly with the basil so it is the tart that was the problem.

I like pineapple sage in pineapple upsidedowncake

strawberries with sweet woodruff (easy to grow around here)

lemon thyme with apple and lemon made into a fool

100 Living Genius people OK. Take a look.

Merle Streep? Ok I have to admit .I actually do think Dolly Parton is a genious. But is genious the word they are really looking for?

That's a little disheartening. For some reason, I was under the impression that they did pretty well here. Did you buy the bushes locally or through a catalog? We have decent air circulation in the yard since we took out a bunch of old shrubs, and a storm gave us some unexpected new sunny areas that I want to exploit. I may end up sticking with blueberries and raspberries.

I bought them from what was then called Edible Landscaping in Afton VA. I think they go by another name now. I have bought quite a few things from them. They are noted for having interesting hard to find items such as rose plants grown for their hips. I figured the odds were best if they started out relatively local. I did know enough to do that. It's not wise to buy plants from a very different zone no matter what they say!

I'm starting to plan what types of fruits I want in the yard, and I am seriously considering currants, both red and black, and maybe gooseberries too. I want to plant things that I can't otherwise find around here. Do you have any thoughts or recommendations after having grown them?

Frustrated with trying to find these relatively unpopular fruit, I planted gooseberries and Josta berries(a gooseberry black currant cross) in my Capitol Hill back yard. It is really too hot in the city and prefer new England,the Midwest or great Britain. The Josta berries would just drop all their leaves after a meager harvest. The gooseberries gave a decent harvest for a few years but were pretty stunted from the heat. If you were out in the mountains a bit like Winchester or in Lancaster PA. I bet you could do it. Some will suggest partial shade to help with the heat but I'm skeptical.Try to get the most heat resistant available.

One aside note,I lost custody of the berry bushes when I divorced and moved to Alexandria but my children would harvest when they visited their dad and bring them home. It was deeply touching. Kids are smart.

Just read Around the Roman Table. Really interesting stuff. I think it's an interesting culinary challenge to take Apicius's rather vague descriptions and try and turn it into something that will work for the modern palate. I just picked up some fish sauce and I'm working on a generic "ancient Roman spice mix" this week (celery seed in place of lovage, garlic powder in place of silphium*, cumin, coriander, fennel seed, and...? or...?). Sprinkle on grilled meats, whisk with wine, honey, garum, etc. I'd love to find some pictures of actual modern attempts at some of the tamer dishes (the zoo foiled my last attempt to acquire flamingo tongues).

*I tried to find silphium at the grocery store. It should have been right between the dodo eggs and wooly mammoth steaks, but they must have had it on special recently or something.

You can grow the lovage easily if you have a garden and they did use it a lot. Rue is often called for but I never use it. I have grown it in the past and, while pretty, the smell is nauseating! I can't imagine using it for food! Is't supposed to repell bugs and smells it! I'm not sure how well most of the food actually translates(so to speak).I made some of the bread recipes from the Around The Roman Table and they were dense but interesting

On rare occasions, I have found fresh banana leaves at Magruder's stores in VA, but I don't go to them very often, and I don't always find them when I do. I think it's pretty much of a fluke to find them fresh, but you can always find frozen ones at latin and asian markets.

I use them for tamales on occasion, and cochinita or pollo pibil, which it sounds like is what you are making--marinated with achiote, sour orange and onion and cooked in a banana leaf wrapper, the pre-industrial aluminum foil. I also use banana leaf wrapper for barbacoa de cabrito, which is goat shoulder marinated in a red chile adobo or mole rojo and steamed. For the goat dish I also use dried avocado leaves, which are harder to find than frozen banana leaves.

Just don't do what I did and decide you may as well use the whole package because what else are you going to do with the rest anyway? It was WAY too banana leaf flavor! Gag!

FireFlies' whole wheat pizza crust is surprisingly tasty. Were there Wednesday and they were celebrating the bar renovation with discounted new cocktails. Had a tasty gin & ginger concoction. A good place to stop if you're in the neighborhood. They're also great for kids, with complimentary popcorn and a ball of pizza dough to play with while you wait.

It's actually not a wood burning oven but a gas fueled one. Look closely.

Does online work for you? Rhubarb ROCKS! We used to grow it in our back yard in Michigan, and my dad my the world's best rhubarb crisp each summer. Delicious memories!

http://gurneys.com/search.asp?eid=081506&s...hcd2=1164813339

International Gourmet has it frozen. You would need to get a 30# case. They are a wholesaler but they might be willing to help you if you pick up.

Try calling them. They are in Springfield,Va.

Food section today - Architectural desserts are out and plops on a plate are in.Usually plops taste better but styles sure come and go,don't they?

Regrettably yes.

We in Del Ray,are very saddened for her. Thank you so much,Tim for keeping us informed.

Tampopo is a great Japanese movie with short vignettes about food. Best food movie I ever saw and hilarious.

The infamous brat night starts tonight at 6pm. Live accordion music,German potato salad,kraut w/ apples,frozen custard and apple crisp! First come,first served.The brats are Klements Miller stadium brats of racing sausage fame.

The Dairy Godmom is taking donations for Dairy Relief,the only charity whose sole purpose is to provide dried milk to people in need. Last year milk was sent to North Korea,Haiti,Ghana,Columbia and Mexico.Go to www.dairyrelief.org for more info. The Dairy Godmother matches all contributions to this great charity. Please stick a few dollars in the jar.

I know you said you were going to be in a cabin and don't want to be hauling a bunch of cooking equiptment around. I DO need to remind how marvelous it is to make grilled cheese in a waffle iron. It just doesn't get much crispier. I like Wisconsin Cheddar,thin apple slices on dark wheat in the waffle iron. Yum.

Back in the Dark Ages when I was an assitant manager at the Kitchen Bazaar on Conn. Ave.,our favorite lunch break was to peruse the cookbooks. I remember finding a recipe including salt cod,which I love. It called for the cod to be soaked over night changing the water every hour. Now that's what I call commitment!

I learned to cook from my mom who, as she was of Scottish ancestry,was a pretty good cook but a better baker.

Everything was made from scratch,all bread,muffins,stocks and sauces but this was a matter of economy since she was a kid during the Depression.

Since she was a dentist,she took the scientific approach and I am also very oriented that way. I remember her spraying silicone on cookie sheets 3O years ago(I'm probably going to get cancer).

I later graduated from the CIA in Hyde Park and make food to sell to support my children.

For me being a skilled cook is also a matter of survival.

Maybe I am an easy sell when it comes to ice cream.

But, as HillValley suggests, hit several high points at the same time. There's a wonderful place on Wisconsin Avenue we hit when we're in Georgetown, and another great place we go to when we visit the zoo. Can't remember either name, suggestions welcome.

Welcome to the world of frozen custard. It is NOT an "ice cream" place with only three flavors.

www.custardlist.com

You want to buy unrefrigerated raw milk, you go right ahead; just make sure you get a TB test done regularly.

And undulant fever and a host of other real illnesses that are not just "food poisoning". This is just not worth it.

Bob's was a regaular stop way back in the early 80's when, like an addict-in-waiting who says "maybe I'll just do one line," I said, "maybe I'll volunteer on a campaign." It was about a block from the Gary Hart campaign headquarters and a favorite of the staff.

Even more peculiar,was then bought by a member of Gary Hart's staff when things went south.I think that qualifies as a favorite of the staff.

Last year, some friends and I went to the Philadelphia Water Ice factory a few weeks before the Rita's opened to help relieve my craving for water ice, and we spoke to the proprietor. She is a transplant, and her water ice is shipped in. Her water ice will be familiar to anyone who would grab a water ice freom any number of places at home. I tend to find Rita's a little more liquid (not that I dislike it). Rita's also (I had always heard) made more in-house? (If they don't, someone correct me)

Water ice is sweetened flavored water. Rita's runs theirs out of a soft serve machine so it is softer and more liquid. They do this with their "frozen custard" also. I guess you could say it was more house made if you consider combining water,sweetener and flavoring and pouring it into the machine some sort of advantage.

Beware anyplace that has bubblegum flavored ANYTHING. It is not a good sign.

And, what was it, Steve's on Capitol Hill, 3rd and Mass? Not bad, either.

That used to be Bob's Famous at 3rd and Mass. It had great ice cream. Is it a Steve's now?

Surprisingly or not surprisingly, I find some great deals on spices at Cost Plus World Market. I've been able to find good saffron, cardamom seeds, dried chiles, bay leaves, etc. there at decent prices. I'm always surprised that they carry stuff like Vegemite, Marmite, european mustards and Indian pickles, seasoning such as thai curry pastes and Maggi, in addition to japanese nori and wasabi. The only downside is that they're not always well-stocked with the stuff.

Speaking of Penzey's......Which is the ONLY Place to buy spices.........................I was told yesterday when I called Penzeys to ask about a non-spice related matter, that they would be opening a store in Alexandria,probably near King Street Metro, probably by fall.

Oh,yeah! Spice time!!!! I am from the great birthplace of Penzeys and I can testify to the wonders of shopping in the store.

A reference not to you but to a couple of whining yuppies who should move back to their gated communities, who posted in the Mt. Pleasant newsletter -- and an admission that, on first glance, the store can seem a little, ahem, off-putting.

The fish can indeed be a bit scary, but we've bought excellent snapper, rockfish and even clams there several times without ill-effect.  A person not confident in their fish selection skills, however, might be wise to shop elsewhere.

Stewing hens are available at both poultry vendors at Eastern market as well as the organic meat vendor at the Del Ray farmers market. The market should start up on Saturday. I can vouch for the stewing hens from both places. They make great chichen and dumplings.

If you haven't cooked a stewing hen you should. You will be amazed at the flavor.